


Stick together, like birds of a feather.

by CoyoteMoon



Series: Fictober 2020 Prompts [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: #Fictober20, Author Is Sleep Deprived, I'm Sorry, M/M, Not Beta Read, POV First Person, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:13:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26954164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoyoteMoon/pseuds/CoyoteMoon
Summary: Purple slime shouldn't be the result of a prank with spider-man's webs, but if it can happen, then it will. Especially if Hawkeye is involved.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Series: Fictober 2020 Prompts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1966531
Kudos: 5





	Stick together, like birds of a feather.

**Author's Note:**

> For prompt: #2. "That's the easy part." for Fictober 2020
> 
> Please enjoy!

When he looked back on it, the day’s events were clearly heralded by those easy to miss warning signs. If only he’d thought to keep a better eye on his wayward acher before he could cause the current mayhem in front of him. Really, he had only himself to blame. Well, and Parker.

It started, as it always seemed to, with a grumpy whine when he left Clint’s sleepy, octopus-like grip, and clearly, he was the only one getting up at a rational time this morning. (Clint liked to argue that five a.m. wasn’t a rational time for anyone to be awake, but they’d agreed to disagree on that point, for sanity’s sake.)

That should have been Bucky’s first warning sign, right there. A well rested Clint Barton, was a mischievous Clint Barton. Even worse was a well rested, Caffeinated, Clint Barton, but he’ll get to that point later.

Bucky liked to run in the early mornings, just a few (ten) times around the compound grounds, just enough to feel more awake, before heading inside to shower and eat. By the time he was done eating it was past eight, more than enough time for Clint to have gotten enough rest for the day. He’d already made sure there was a second pot of coffee brewing, before he’d set out for their room to wake Clint. 

Second pot, because Stark had drifted through while he was eating, downed three cups of coffee in rapid succession, then disappeared back the way he came. Sometimes Bucky worried about that guy, but he’d sic Steve on him later, if he hadn’t already cornered him by lunchtime. He didn't have the energy to deal with Stark today, he had his own coffee addict to deal with.

By the time he’d reached their room, Clint had already gotten dressed, surprising Bucky, because usually he had to literally drag him out of their bed, when he felt like being stubborn. 

That should’ve been his second warning sign, but he wasn’t paying close enough attention. He’d only seen Clint this awake before coffee on one occasion, and it had ended with two exploded microwaves, one pissed off sentient roomba, and confetti sprinkled liberally in places the roomba couldn’t reach. A true master of chaos,was his archer, it was almost impressive.

The next warning sign, was entirely missed. If he’d been paying attention, he’ld have seen Clint take the spider-kid off to the side while everyone was busy prodding a sleepy Stark, brought in by mother hen Steve, into a seat, force feeding him, and shepherding him out of the room to finally sleep after who knows how many days awake in the lab. To be perfectly honest, the spider-kid didn’t look that much better rested, but he had the benefit of being easier to deal with, so he was mostly left to his own devices while Stark was dealt with. It was always a production, but thankfully Steve was better at guilting them both into better sleep patterns.

He would’ve seen the way Clint’s eyes gleamed, bright with unbridled mischief, as he and the spider-kid bent their heads together before splitting off, a grin on both their faces, ready to begin planning their latest prank.  
Surprisingly, Parker was the one to seek Hawkeye out when it came to helping him with pranks against the others, Clint had an instinct for finding just the right amount of torment and humor, while not stepping on anyone’s sensitive boundaries. 

This led up to him losing sight of Clint for a few hours, and while he’d thought he didn’t have to worry too much, he’d also made a promise to go looking for him before too long, having a bad feeling about his absence.

The team had eaten lunch, and then decided to watch movies together, a not uncommon habit, when they had a slow day like today. No calls, no emergencies, and even Stark had managed to get a few hours of rest before he’d woken up for lunch. Steve and Sam had retreated to the kitchen to make popcorn, while the rest had settled on the various couches and chairs in the entertainment room. He should’ve noticed how fidgety Parker was being, even for the normally hyperactive teen.

Just as he started noticing Parker’s nervousness, there was a loud popping noise, and Sam started loudly swearing and shouting in the kitchen, followed by Steve’s confused yells. The others, excluding Clint and Parker, looked at each other before going into the kitchen. 

And what a sight to behold. Almost impossibly, the entire kitchen was covered in slimy, sticky, purple ooze. It was almost as if there was more surface covered in the substance, than there was uncovered, and in the middle of all of it, there stood Steve, and a harshly swearing Sam.

In Steve’s hands, was a slightly smoking, industrial sized popcorn butter container. The color was its own hint, but Bucky has his suspicions about how it’d joined forces with the familiar sticky substance, reminiscent of their friendly neighborhood spider-kid’s web fluid, if a little less cohesive. 

The others were busy trying to avoid the slime, while also trying to get Sam and Steve away from the mess, when Bucky noticed that Clint and Peter had seemingly vanished. Guess he knew who’d made this particular mess.

He backed out of the doorway, and headed for a spot he knew Clint hid in, when he’d pulled pranks like this, when he knew people would be aggravated at him. What surprised him the most though, was finding Peter wedged into the crawl space with him, cackling at their phones together. 

Clint looked up when Bucky cleared his throat, causing Peter to jump, almost dropping his phone. “Hey Buckaroo, what’s up?” Clint said casually, as if Clint didn’t know what chaos he’d created just now. Bucky just lifted his eyebrow, unimpressed.

Clint rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish smile on his face. “Listen, i can explai-”

Bucky huffed a breath out of his nose. “That’s the easy part.” he muttered, “you’re both going to be scrubbing every single inch of that kitchen until you get sick of seeing it.”

Maybe he’d missed the tell-tale signs of mischief all day, but seeing their looks of shocked dismay gave bucky a large amount of amusement. Serves them right.

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, i really don't know. i feel like this was a pretty good story idea, but the more i wrote, the weirder it sounded? could be the sleep deprivation, but who knows? Let me know what you think, and, please, be kind and courteous in the comments!


End file.
